Newspapers / Brevard news. / June 11, 1931, edition 1 / Page 7
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Interesting Chapters in W. N. C. History BREVARD-DAVIDSON RIVER CHURCH OLD PRESBYTERIAN INSTITUTION By (JUDGE ROBERT L. GASH) At the close of the Civil War this whole section of the country was in a very unsettled state. The bush whackers were much in evidence. The returned Confederate soldiers and the returned Union soldiers, to put it Mildly, did aot fraternize much. Gen. Stoneman's Brigade of Union soldiers ^passed through. Live stock, poultry, aijd rations of all kinds, and nearly everything that was moveable oisippeared, The two elements in the church were still more widely separated. One element was all for staying with the General Assembly U. S. A. (the Northern church), and the other was ( all for the General Assembly U. S. I (the Southern church). There were still meetings held but the two diverg ent elements didn't mix. When a Southern preacher appeared, most of the other element remained away, and vice vers*. About the time of Stoneman's raid, during the summer of 1865, a South ern evangelist was holding a meeting at the church, and interest ran high, i He was about as fiery and emotional | as an old time Circuit Rider could be. I On Sunday night when interest ran \ high, the preacher called on the breth- 1 ren to pray, to pray out loud so that all could hear, and to pray for the things they wanted most. Among oth ers who accepted the invitation was Thomas D. Clayton, a returned Con- j federate soldier just recovering from his wounds. Those who remember Uncle "Tommy P" can well recall his powerful voice, and its wonderful ly clear and carrying qualities. At the , top of his voice he commenced an elo- ; <iuent prayer for Jeff Davis, Robert E. Lee and the Southern Confederacy. ' Some returned Union soldiers in the , back of the church started a riot. The | meeting broke up in disorder. A num- 1 ber jumped on Tommy D. When the "double-teaming" started, Charley j Patton and William Deaver took a hand to see fair play. Their lead was 1 followed by many others, and in a ! few minutes the disturbance was ? over. Some one procured a warrant j for Tommy D. for disturbing the church services. The matter came up in the Superior Court, I believe be fore Judge Shipp. The evangelist testified as to his invitation, and that ? Mr. Clayton was literally following out the invitation of the evangelist, although with unexpected results. A number of the best citizens of all fac tions testified as to the character of Mr. Clayton, and his excellent record as a soldier. After hearing all the evidence the judge called the prosecut- 1 ing witness before him and gave him a lecture (the witness was dressed in , a new blue Federal Uniform). After; the lecture, the Judge held thi witness accountable for the whole disturbance and gave the witness his choice be tween a jail sentence on the one hand, | and on the other for the witness to . stand up in court while the sheriff i cut the buttons off his uniform and to pay a fine. The witness chose the latter. For some months services were ir- ; regular, and more often there were none. In March, 1866, Dr. Robert Hett Chapman held a series of meetings. Mr. Chapman, an evangelist and , teacher, was one of the commissioners who organized the General Assembly of the Confederate States (the South ern Presbyterian church) in 1861. Af ter the close of the war, the word; "Confederate" was stricken out, and the word "United" inserted instead. The session was convened March 31, 1866. Elders present were James W. , Killian, Elizur Patton and Charles Patton. M. Jasper Orr, Lambert C. | Neill, Isaac T. Lyday, Eli Patton and \ Martha E. Gash, Florida Galloway and Elsora Galloway united with the church. Dr. Chapman was called to the pastorate, and served the church for the next five years. Representative and alternate were elected to attend meetings of Concord Presbytery. Reg ular church work and services con tinued for many years. It was during Dr. Chapman's pas torate, at a meeting of Concord Pres bytery held at Davidson River in 1869, that overture was sent up to the Synod of North Carolina for the for mation of Mecklenburg Pref?bytery. (Twenty-seven years later; in 1896, I BREVARD FRIENDS: Send your Shoe Repair work to us in Henderson ville, either bring it, mail or send on Bus. We pay postage. We do good work at reasonable prices, ENGLISH BROS. ? No. 2 SHOE RE-BUILDERS 1 door from Rose Pharmacy: Hendersonville, N. C. jj at meeting of Mecklenburg Presby tery, held at Davidson River, the over ture was sent up for the formation of Asheville Presbytery.) About two months after the reor ganization of the church under Dr. Chapman, as a church under the Gen eral Assembly U. S. (the Southern church), that portion of the cliurch adhering to the Presbyterian church U. S. A. (the Northern church) pre j pared for a meeting which was ad vertised to be held at the church on June 9, 1866. Elizur Patton, one of the elders, had the church key. He unlocked the church and opened the door. The members under Dr. Chap man did not attend. Those attending found the door closed (the wind had closed the door) and did not test it to see if it was locked, but adjourned to the residence of G. W. Kitchen. They made minute to the effect that they had been forbidden as they understood by order of Dr. Chapman to use their own church, and adjourned to the residence of G. W. Kitchen. The min ute continues: "After hearing an excellent sermon by Rev. John C. Carson, M. D. (a member of the old Concord Presby tery in good standing under the care of the General Assembly of the Pres byterian church in the United States of America) the church meeting was organized by calling the Rev. John Cuitas Steward (a member of the old Presbytery and church as above who was present by invitation) to act as moderator and requesting Col. George Orr to act as Secretary." (Note: The John C. Carson is not the Rev. John C. Carson who was a captain in the Confederate Army ? so I am told by his son, Rev. R. D. Car son, D. D.) The moderator explained the pur- j pose of the meeting, gave an account j of the history of the church since : 1861, caused the members to be en- j rolled, and the church was formally 1 organized as a church under the Gen- 1 era! Assembly of the Presbvlerian ? Church, U. S. A. " The moderator appointed a commit- j tee to draft resolutions which were j presented, adopted, and copy ordered sent to the Henderson Pioneer for publication, in the following lan guage : "Whereas a majority of the Pres bytery of Concord, under whose care as a church we were, did in Septem ber, 1801, in connection with the so called secession of the state and as a consequence of it forrrfally secede from the Presbyterian church i:i i!u United States of America, and after wards in connection with other Pres byteries did organize a new church called The Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America; And, whereas, God in His good providence by the agency of our Heaven-established government did in 1865 destroy the so-called government of the Confederate States of America and at the same time did also destroy the Presbyterian Church in the Con federate States as to its organization and title; And, whereas, The Presbytery of Concord in September, 1865: (not withstanding this terrible rebuke from God Himself by a small major ity 21 against 19 and but one ruling elder voting with the majority as we are informed) did go into an arrange ment to organize a General Assembly in the South, and thus renew, con tinue and perpetuate division and schism in our church; And, whereas, that division and schism was perpetrated in Macon, Ga., in December, 1865, and a new church organized under the name of The Presbyterian Church in the United States; And, whereas, we, believing the ob ject and tendency of this action was and stil! is to keep up and foster the sectional and un-Christian spirit and feeling created during the war to the great injury of both church and country ; And, whereas, after notice given, we, the members of Davidson River Church, met at our house of worship June 9, 1866, to hear the Gospel preached and take action in regard to our church relations, but in gross . violation of the law of the land were forbidden to enter our own house and were excluded from it by J. W. Kil lian, Charles Patton and Elizur Pat ton, who go svith the division party, thus not only disturbing but breaking up a worshipping assembly: Resolved 1st: That we solemnly protest against (as we believe) the unjust conduct of three named elders, J. W. Killian, Charles Patton and Elizur Patton, in excluding us from our own house of worship and also against the secession, division ant' un fortunate schism in the Presbyterian Church consummated in Macon, Ga., December, 1865. Res. 2nd: That we the Davidson River Church now in the fear of God declair our fixed purpose to stay at home in the church of our fathers and firmly adhere to the General As THE BREVARD UNDERTAKING CO. D. F. MOORE and PURDE OSBORNE SOLE OWNERS DAY PHONE, 88 NIGHT PHONE: D. F. Moore, Phone 250 Purde Osborne, Phone 159 AMBULANCE Service At ALL HOURS sembly and Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. Res. 3: That we will discounten ance and give no ade to secession dis loyal scbismatical preachers or others who may come among us to cause di vision and strife as Paul command*, Rom, 16, 17, 1$: "Now I beseech you brethren, mark them which cause di vision and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid tbem, for they that are such serve our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly, and by good words and fair speeches, deseavc the harts of the simple." Resolved 4th: That believing as we do that some of the former members [of our church now with the division have been misled or deceived in thlai church matter we earnestly and cor dially invite them to return in good faith to the old church of our ances try, the old ship is still sailing, out lives the storm of schism and fanati cism and able to receive more passen gers, 'and we say, renounce error come to me and go with us in peace for we make no strife, no division, no schism. Resv. 6th: That this action of the church be spread upon our ststioa book where our original oiganizatio* is recorded aq having taken place m the year 1828. From the summer of 1866, for ? number of years, there were tw# churches about a mile apart, each 'claiming to be the true Davidson Riv !er Church, (To be continued) Are you walking a T READMILL? Does the daily routine of household tasks keep you busy from dawn to dusk? Do many of your working hours slip by in cleaning, firing and tending an old-fashioned cook stove; hours which you could use for your family and for the other things you would really like to do if you only had the time? Would you be free from kitchen drudgery; and free from most of the dirt and soot which are a part of out-of-date cooking methods? If you would, just ask your neighbor what an electric range in HER kitchen means to her in time-saving, in release from drudgery, in greater happiness. Enjoy New Freedom With a f htlmnfc. 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June 11, 1931, edition 1
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